MAGAZINE: Do you know how to spot an illegal gas fitter?

Do you know how to spot an illegal gas fitter?

Published:07:00Thursday 26 May 2016

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Around 1.1 million gas jobs are carried out every year by illegal fitters who aren’t properly qualified, putting householders at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, gas leaks, fires and explosions, a government body has warned.

But would you know what to look for when a gas fitter knocks on your door?

Many of us would trust an engineer if they said they were registered, rather than checking their ID card.

The majority of people admit they are generally trusting of people and that when it comes to determining who to trust, the most common thing they look for include politeness, good eye contact and a nice smile but don’t bother to check their identification.

The consequences of relying on an unregistered engineer can be deadly. Unsafe gas appliances can produce a highly poisonous gas called carbon monoxide (CO).

Few people are aware that carbon monoxide cannot be seen in a room, and many have no idea that the gas is odourless. In the past three years, 22 people have died and there have been nearly 1,000 injuries related to gas incidents.

We took a hidden camera around the homes of three unsuspecting homeowners to see what would happen when visited by a gas safe engineer. What mistakes do they make and where do they excel?